Elizabeth Munoz argues that joy must come from within, not from people or circumstances. When you tie happiness to external sources, it vanishes when they do. She recommends mirror work: look at yourself, affirm self-love, and pair compliments with positive feelings.
Because if our joy comes externally and we're always— hear me carefully when I say this— if your joy is motivated by external factors, the moment that external factor is gone, you no longer have joy. So it is okay to be in a relationship where that person adds to your joy, but they cannot be the source of your joy. The source of your joy must come from within, and you got to do whatever the hell necessary to make that happen. If it's not happening right now, you got to make it happen. And again, we've talked about this before, but Mirror work is a beautiful way to start that. Just looking in the mirror and telling yourself that you love yourself and complimenting yourself and tying that to a positive emotion.
